In this week's class, we focused on milonga con traspié. We had several people stay after class, because they were so excited about milonga... so we ended up running out of time to do the instructional part of the video... we will try to do one next week for this class.. but here are some highlights in text:

We started with more milonga basics of keeping the simple, regular time rhythm of 1, 2, 1, 2 by changing weight.

With all of these steps, we focus on:

* keeping the rhythm. Both the man and woman are responsible for holding the rhythm.

* staying relaxed and trying to release any tension in the embrace and especially in our hips and legs. This will help with quickly switching weight.

* precision footwork by bringing our feet completely together when we can.

* mixing dancing to the single, regular time rhythm and dancing double time. In my opinion, lots of people look like they are just running around the dance floor during milonga, because they are trying to dance double time the whole time. I prefer dancing in regular time and using double time more sparringly.

:07 to :16
Then we step outside partner, bringing out feet together and changing weight to the rhythm. Then we step back and change weight to the rhythm and repeat.

:25 - Traspié to the Side
There is a lot of confusion over the term traspie. Some think of it as a stumble step or as dancing in double time (quick-quick). While these are partly true, I think a more accurate definition is using the same leg twice. Some say it comes from the term "pie detras" which means "foot behind." I think this is a very accurate description of what happens.

We start the side traspié by stepping outside partner with our right, then we take a step to the side with our left and then forward AGAIN with the our left, leaving the right foot behind. So, we use our left to step to the side and then re-use it again to step forward.

We can also think of traspié as rebotes (rebounds) or arrepentidas (repents). We often do traspiés in double time or as syncopated steps, but that is not what defines a traspié. But do keep in mind that when some teachers talk about traspié they are using it as a synonym for double time or syncopation.

:44 - Here I step back and then perform a side traspie and back to collection. Then I take a forward step and another side traspie and back to collection. Then immediately to a back traspie and continue back.

1:36 - Mix n' Match Traspiés
Here we do a string of traspiés forward, side and back for both the leader and the follower. You can see here that we can mix and match the traspiés. I can do forward while she does back or we can both go forward or both go back etc.